Stopping mechanism for button-hole-stitching machines



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. H. GUMMINGS.

STOPPING MEGHANISM FOR BUTTON HOLE STITGHING MACHINES. No. 354,103. Patented Deo. 14, 1886.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. H.- OUMIVIINGS.

STOPPING MBGHANISM POR BUTTON HOLE STITGHING MACHINES.

No. 354,103. Patented Dec'. 14, 1886.

'Nrrnn STATES A'rnNr rines.

STOPPING MECHANISM FOR BUTTON-HOLE-STITCHING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATIGN forming part of Letters Patent No.354,l03, dated December 14, 1886.

Serial No. 181,961. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY H. Comunes, of Malden, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Stopping Mechanisms for Button-HoleStitch ing Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

In mechanism of the class referred to the cloth-carrying clamp has been made, at the completion of a button-hole, to strike a lever on top of the bed-plate and effect the disengagement of the clutch instrumental in driv ing the main shaft of the machine.

rlhe object of my invention is to simplify the construction of the parts, and herein I have provided one of the rotating shafts of the machine with a worm-wheel that actuates a woringear containinga number of teeth, preferably equal to the greatest number of stitches to be taken in the longestbntton-hole to he stitched, the said worm-gear being mounted loosely on a hollow stud fixed to the machine-frame, receiving through it a short shaft having at one end a dog to engage teeth at the side of the worm-gear, and at its other end a trippingarm, a spring normally acting to keep the dog in engagement with the worm-gear so as to compel the rod and arm to rotate in unison with it, the said arm at the proper time-as at the completion of the button-hole*acting to move a hook and release one arm of a compound or double lever that controls a clutch (5o-operating with the belt-pulley mounted loosely on the main shaft of the machine and provided at its face with projections, the release of the said compound levereffecting the release of the belt-pulley and the stopping ofthe machine. The lever referred to is made as a compound lever, in order that the part thereof directly employed to operate the clutch may he moved independently while the hook is in operation, and holds one part ofthe said lever should the operator desire to stop the machine before completing the button-hole.

The features in which my invention consists will he hereinafter more fully set out in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure l is a rear side elevation of asocalled Union button-hole stitching inachine, to which my invention is shown as apn plied, the compound lever being shown as in the position it will occupy after completing a button-hole, the belt-pulley being supposed to be free or loose on the main shaft, the usual cloth-clamp being omitted. Fig. 2 is a section of Fig. l below the dotted line x x, the coverplate being removed to show the usual clothclamp-moving device below it, and in connection therewith the gage employed by me to indicate the proper position for the scrollcams when the button-hole is to be started. Fig. 3 is a front side elevation of the machine shown in Fig. l. Fig. 4L is a detail showing part of the machine with its hook holding the compoundlever in the position it will occupy While the button-hole is being stitched. Fig. 5 is a section of Fig. 3 in the dotted line x', looking to the right. Fig. 6 is a sectional detail to he referred to, taken in the line x2 x2, Fig. l; and Figs. 7 and 8, details to he referred to.

The bed-plate A, its cover A', the upright A2, overlianging arm A3., movable head A4, needle-bar A5. needle A, main shaft A7, bevelgears AB A", shaft A10, cam B, the lever B for moving the head A, the scrollcams B'l B3 y and the gear Bt, and the stitch-forming mechanism (not shown) are and may be as com mon to button-hole-stitching machines now 1n use, such machines being known as the.

Uniong but I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to limit my invention to the employment of the devices ,hereinafter to be described to only the sewing-machine shown, as with but slight Vchanges the saine may be adapted to other well-known sewing-machines.

The material containing the slit or buttonhole to be stitched will be held between the jaws of a clamp, (notshowm) but substantially such as represented in'United States Patent No. 123,348, February 6, 1872.

In accordance with my invention, I have provided the shaft A1 with a worm, C, which engages and rotates a worm-gear, G, mounted loosely on a hollow stud, C, h'Xed to the upright arm A, the said stud having a shoulder and a washer at opposite sides of the wormgear, to prevent the latterl from being moved longitudinally. The stud C2 receives through it a short shaft, G3, provided with a dog, a, pinned thereon near the front end of the said shaft, the rear end of the said shaft beyond the IOO upright arm A2 having fastened to it a tripping-arm, a', provided,preferably,with an adjusting-screw, e2. The shaft C at its front end,

beyond the dog c, has connected with it one end of a clock-spring, a3, the outer end of which is attached to the upright arm A2, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the said spring' acting normally to turn the shaft C3 and its attached dog and tripping-arm in a direction opposite that to which the said shaft is turned by the worm-gearl when the pawl-like point of the dog a engages the ratchet-teeth 2 at the outer side I of the worm-gear OC (See Fig. 3.) A washer, 3, on the shaft C3 forms a guide or wall for one side of the spring e3, and a spring, e5, acting against the outer end of the shaft G3,` normally keeps the dog a in engagement with the ratchet-teeth.

The belt-pulley D, loose on the shaft A?, has at its inner side clutch-pins d, which are engaged by the clutch arm or lever D', having its pivot 4 inserted through a hub or part of the shaft A7 inside `the upright A2, the said clutch-being acted upon by' a spring, dwhich normally acts to keep the free end of the said clutch pressed toward the belt-pulley, so as to enable the pins d of the latter to be engaged by the clutch, the latter acting to rotate the j shaft A7.

To disengage the clutch-lever D from the said pins, I have provided a compound lever, composed, essenliallyfofa lever, E, mounted on a fulcrum, E', one end of the said lever having a handle, E2, the opposite arm having a shoe, Fil, which is so inclined or shaped that when the handle E2 is depressed into the p osition, Fig. 1, with the lever against the stop 6, theinclined face of the said shoe will be placed in position to be struck by the lower free end ofthe clutch arm or lever D', moving the latter away from the belt-pulley and the pins or projections d, letting the said pulley run loosely on the main shaft. The other member of the compound lever E is a short lever., E4, mounted loosely on the same fulcruin-stud E', the said short lever E4 having a pin or stud, 7,

' that has connected with it a spring, 8attached to a stud,9,1iXed onthe machine-frame, the said spring acting normally to keep the compound lever in the posftion, Fig. l, against the stop 6. When the handle E2 is lifted, as in Fig. 4, the shoe Eis removed from the path or reach ofthe clutch-lever D,permitting the latter,under the action of the spring d2, to engage one of the pins or projections d, and thereafter the main lshaft will be rotated in unison with the beltpulley D and the stitching will be commenced. The elevation of the handle E2 of the lever E causes the depression of the short lever E4, distending the spring 8, the said lever Fl4 having a lip, 1Q, at one edge, which extends laterally Linder the lever En The pin or stud 7 of the lever E4, when depressed, is caught by the hook e, pivoted` at e' on the upright A2, the said hookhaving a stud, e2, at its inner side below itsfulcruine, (see Figs. 6 and 7,) a spring, l2, normally acting to keep the hook e pressed toward the pin or stud 7 of the lever E", so as to clutch over the same whenever the lever E* is depressed.

The number of ratchet-teeth iu the wormgear is preferably in excess of the number of stitches in the largest button-hole to be made, and correspondsin number with lthe teeth of the worm-gear.

The usual cloth-holding clamp being put in place, and the lever E moved to commence the stitching, the rotation of the worm-gear (the dog e at such time being in engagement with the said gear) will cause the rotation of the shaft C3 with the said gear, and the tripping-arm e will be moved in unison with it until the said arm strikes the stud c2 of the vhook e and releases the said hook from the pin or stud 7, permitting the spring S to lift the levers E* and E and eiiect the release of the clutch-lever D from the belt-pulley, leaving the latter loose ou the main shaft.

As above stated, Fig. 4 represents the parts in the position which they will occupy when the stitching of a button-hole is commenced,

and as the stitching progresses `the trippingarm a travels to the left and downward, as viewed in the said gure, and when the button-hole is finished it has nearly completed a revolution with its shaft C3, and it will strike the pin c on the pivoted hook e when it has again come around to a nearly vertical position, and thus the said pivoted hook will be moved in the proper direction to be released from the pin 7 to effect the unclutching of the pulley D from the clutch-lever D', as above described.

Viewing Figs. 1, 4, and 7, it will be seen that the hook e has an inclined edge, 14, and that the said hook,below its fulcrum,is twisted or set in an inclined position, so that as the IOO pin 7 ,under the rotation of the spring 8,travels stitches which may be made before stopping the IIO machine automatically, as described, depends upon the position of thestop 16 on the plate 17, held in adjusted position by the screw 18, (see Figs. 1 and 8,) the said plate being shown separately in Fig. 8.

To insure an even number of stitches at each side of the button-hole,`the scroll-cams, which act to carry the cloth-clamp over the cover-` plate A', containing the usual slot, must occupy at starting a certain definite position; and to always insure the placing of lthe scroll-cams in this definite starting-point I have provided the scroll-cam B2 with a notch, 2&0, (see Fig.

2,) and I have pivoted near the said scrollcam a gage, G, having a projection to engage the said notch When the said parts are brought together, the operator at such time moving` the scroll-cam by the usual handle, I-I, and pressing the gage in With his thu mb, the gage acting as a feeder to show the operator the cori rect position for the scroll-cani.

The position of the pin 4, which forms a fulcrnm for the clutch-lever D', is such, with relation to the usual devices for reciprocating the needle-bar vertically, that the main shaft is always stopped in such position as to leave the needlebar elevated with the needle above the usual cloth-clamp, so that the latter may be readily removed from the machine.

I claiml. The shaft A1", its attached Worin andthe Worm-gear actuated by it and provided with teeth, and a short shaft provided with a dog to engage the said teeth, and with an arm, a', combined with a hook adapted to hold or release a lever operative in stopping or starting the shaft AT, substantially as described.

2. The shaft A7, the clutclrlever pivoted thereon, the belt-pulley loose on the said shaft and provided With pins or projections d, the

shaft A10 and gears to connect it with the shaft A7, the Worin C, the Worm-gear C', provided With ratchet-teeth 2, and a short shaft, C3, provided With-the dog and arm a', and the lever Y. E* and the shoe E, combined with the hook shaft and provided with the pins or projecrions d, combined with the lever E, its atlached shoe E, and the lever Ef, its pin 7, the spring 8, and the hook c, to operate substantially as described.

4. rIhe lever E, provided with pin 7, and a spring, 8, to operate the lever, and a short shaft, C3, provided with the dog a and the arm a', and the worm-gear C', provided With ratchet-teeth 2, combined with a lever, c, having an inclined edge, il, and an inclined side or face, l5, to act against one end of the said short shaft to release the dog from engagement with the ratchet-teeth of the worm-gear, substantially as described.

5. The Worm-gear C', provided with ratchetteeth 2, the short shaft C, extended through said gear loosely and provided with a dog, a, and the arm a, and the regulating-plate 17, provided with a stop, combined with a spring, a, to turn the said shaft in one direction when the dog a is disengaged from the ratchet-teeth of the worm-gear, substantially as described.

6. The scroll-cam BZ, provided with a notch, 20, combined with the gage G, having the shou1- der or projection to engage the said notch and determine the starting position of the said.

HENRY H. GUMMINGS.

Vitnesses:

G. W. GREGORY, C. M. GONE. 

